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ICT Integration in Teaching and Teachers Training by Faculty Members in Israeli

Colleges of Education

Conference Paper · March 2014

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 ICT Integration in Teaching and Teachers Training by Faculty Members in
Israeli Colleges of Education, 2013

Miri Shonfeld Olzan Goldstein

Kibbutzim College of Education Kaye Academic College of Education
Mofet Institute Mofet Institute
Israel Israel
mirish@macam.ac.il olzang@macam.ac.il

Abstract: The study examined the scope and ways of ICT integration in teaching and professional
development by faculty members in Israel Colleges of Education, part of the implementation of the
national initiative to transform Teacher Education to meet the demands of the 21st century.
According to findings, faculty members incorporate a variety of ICT-based learning assignments.
The most popular were related to presentation and use of learning management systems,
visualization and simulation, inquiry and cooperative learning. Integrating Project-based learning,
social networks, synchronous meetings, mobile learning, Wikis and blogs in teaching were rare.
More than half of the sample was engaged in training students for teaching with ICT, among them
pedagogical supervisors, instructors of Educational Technology courses and other disciplines.
However, a third of the pedagogical supervisors did not relate to this topic. Most faculty members
considered themselves as having good Technological, Pedagogical and Content Knowledge skills
and they have positive attitudes towards ICT integration in teaching. In addition, 40 percent of them
reported they integrate ICT in teaching in traditional ways. There is a need to continue increasing
the scope of ICT integration and, more important, to put emphasis on developing teaching models
aimed at Knowledge Deepening and Knowledge Creation.

Introduction
The study that examined pre-service teachers' preparation to teach with ICT in Israeli colleges of education
in the 2008-2009 academic year revealed a significant problem: 75% of the graduates did not practice ICT-based
teaching in their field practice settings; their college supervisors did not engage enough in such training; and college
graduates were exposed mostly to traditional ways of ICT integration, such as using email, Internet search and
submission of assignments by digital means (Goldstein, Waldman, Tesler, Shonfeld, Forkosh-Baruch, Zelkovich et
al., 2011). These findings had an impact on the policy decisions driving the new program of the Israel Ministry of
Education to transform the colleges to meet the demands of the 21st century.
This new program focuses on preparing tomorrow's teachers to develop pedagogical innovations and
teaching skills to empower them to lead school staff in effective ICT integration in education (Israel MOE, 2011;
Melamed et al., 2010). The implementation of the program began in the 2011-12 school year when the first cohort of
nine Colleges of Education were granted a budget on a competitive basis for improving the technological
infrastructure as well as for faculty training. This process was accompanied by an intercollegiate evaluation study
conducted by a team of researchers from eight Colleges in collaboration with a representative of the Department of
Teacher Education. The study aimed at gaining a better understanding of the implementation process of the program
through an analysis and a comparison of the change processes within the colleges, an examination of pedagogical
innovations developed by faculty and pre-service teachers’ skills in teaching with ICT. The study relies on the
methodology of earlier research (Goldstein, Waldman, Tessler, Shonfeld, Forkosh-Baruch, Zelkowitz, 2012;
Goldstein et al., 2011), making way for a long-term follow-up of ICT integration in teacher education colleges.
This article elaborates the findings related to ICT integration in teaching by faculty at eight colleges at the beginning
stage (2011) of the new program's implementation.

Literature Review

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 UNESCO has developed a theoretical framework for assessing ICT integration in educational institutions
(Hine, 2011; Kozma, 2011). This framework emphasizes the development of knowledge producers as the most
important goal of educational systems in the Knowledge Era in contrast to the development of knowledge
consumers, as was typical for the Industrial Era. ICT plays a major role in achieving this goal. Three levels of ICT
integration are indicated in the framework: Technology Literacy, Knowledge Deepening and Knowledge Creation.
Technology Literacy enables learners to find and process information, thus allowing them to learn. Knowledge
Deepening relates to using the knowledge and applying it for solving complex problems relevant to the learner. The
focus of the Knowledge Creation level concerns with producing new knowledge relevant for the community.
According to UNESCO's framework: "the use of new technologies in education implies new teacher roles, new
pedagogies and new approaches to teacher education" (Hine, 2011).
Teacher education is expected to develop these kinds of literacy among pre-service teachers as well as
enable them to develop new skills among their pupils. These goals require a change in traditional teaching and
learning methods that incorporated in the Industrial Era. Teaching staff at teacher education institutions (perceived
as a model for their students) are expected to renew their teaching methods towards a constructivist approach while
integrating appropriate new online learning environments.
ICT can be used in teaching and learning for various purposes: (a) it offers effective management of course
administration (organization of course materials, submission of learning outcomes and evaluation process); (b) it
provides educational resources and multimedia tools; (c) it enables easy communication among all course
participants; (d) it uses a variety of teaching methods to make learning meaningful through inquiry, collaborative
tasks (discussion, problem solving, creative writing), peer teaching and presenting.
For this study, the theory of the Diffusion of Innovation, CBAM, TPACK and RIPPLES models were used
as a theoretical framework for the analysis of ICT integration in teaching by teaching staff in colleges of education.
Transition from the traditional to novel teaching methods requires deep learning in order to develop new
knowledge. Mishra & Koehler (2006) defined it as an intersection of content, pedagogical and technological
knowledge (the TPACK model), meaning that educators should acquire not only technological skills but, more
important, they need to be familiarized with or invent new teaching methods to implement technologies for teaching
their specific subject matter.
Adoption of technological innovation by teachers is not a simple process. Many studies have reported
difficulties and barriers due to pedagogical beliefs and perceptions of teaching staff as well as insufficient technical,
pedagogical and administrative support (Surry, Lewis, Yohn & Vance, 2012; Brzycki & Dudt, 2005; Goktas,
Yildirim & Yildirim, 2009; Gomez, Sherin, Griesdorn & Finn, 2008; Maltz & DeBlois, 2005; Moser, 2007).
According to the Concerns Based Adoption Model (CBAM), developed by Hall and Hord (1987), the
adoption of technological innovation by educators is an ongoing process that includes seven stages (Levels of use):
(1) non-use of innovation; (2) curiosity about innovation; (3) learning the innovation; (4) the simplistic, mechanical
use of the innovation; (5) the comfortable use of innovation, but in habitual ways; (6) the use of innovation to
increase productivity, peer sharing; (7) the creative use of innovation and renewal.
There is a great variance in the ability to adopt innovations among people. Rogers (2003), in his Diffusion
of Innovation theory, classified the general population according to their tendency to adopt innovation: innovators
(2.5% of the population); early adopters (13.5%), the early majority (34%); the late majority (34%); and laggards
(16% of the population). Innovators are characterized by flexibility and willingness to take professional and social
risks. They are the first to adopt innovation. In contrast, laggards oppose innovation and are afraid to take risks,
hence they are late in adopting innovation or even never adopt it.
Implementation of information technologies by teaching staff depends on the pre-requisite conditions at
educational institutions. Based on an extensive survey, Surry, Ensminger and Jones (2002) identified seven factors
that influence the implementation of ICT in educational institutions (RIPPLES model): (1) Resources (budget), (2)
Infrastructure (hardware, software and network), (3) Policy (a vision, a declared plan and supportive leadership of
the administration), (4) People (motivation of the staff: beliefs, attitudes and values), (5) Learning (perception of
change for achieving learning objectives), (6) Evaluation (identifying the factors that promote or inhibit the process,
examining the relationship between investment and output), (7) Support (staff training, provision of technical,
pedagogical and administrative support).

The Study

The study examines the ways and scope of ICT integration in teaching and teacher training by faculty

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members in eight colleges of education in Israel at the beginning stage of implementation - in 2011- of a national
program for upgrading the teacher education in Israel.
Population and sample: The sample included 615 faculty members from eight Israeli colleges of
education which began implementing the national program in the 2011-2012 academic year (approximately 25% of
the faculty population at all these colleges). The sample included 72% female and 28% male faculty members. 80%
were from the Jewish sector and 20% were from the Arab sector. Background data of the sample indicate core staff:
most of the participants had a high working scope in college, advanced seniority in their position and taught primary
disciplines. 45% of the sample engaged in pedagogical practice training.
Tools and data processing: Data were collected using a questionnaire developed in the previous study
(Goldstein et al., 2012), based on Rogers' theory of diffusion of innovations (2003), RIPPLES (Surry, Ensminger &
Jones, 2003) and the CBAM rubric (Hall & Hord, 1987). In the current version, we reduced the number of
secondary questions and added a question on technological, pedagogical and content knowledge according to the
TPACK model (Mishra & Koehler, 2006) as well as open questions related to factors promoting and inhibiting ICT
adoption. The questionnaire included 24 questions (72 items) and was administered anonymously. The data were
analyzed with SPSS software and included the testing of reliability and validity by examining the content validity
and construct validation (Forkush-Baruh & Ugar-Avidov, in preparation).

Findings
The research findings relate to the integration of ICT in teaching by faculty members, involvement in
training students for teaching with ICT, self-reported TPACK knowledge, the stage in the process of adoption of
technological innovation the use of technology tools for personal and professional needs, faculty members' attitudes,
infrastructure and existing support in the colleges.

ICT integration in teaching by faculty members

Teachers were asked to indicate which of 18 kinds of ICT-based assignments they had integrated in
their courses. The assignments related to four goals: presentation and learning management; visualization and
simulation; experience in advanced online environments; and development of 21st century skills.
The results revealed great diversity in using different assignments. The most common were presenting
learning outcomes and the use of learning management system: about 85% of respondents incorporated them in
teaching. The second group of assignments - use of video/audio, inquiry and collaborative tasks – was incorporated
by 65-73 % of the participants. The third group contains less common assignments implemented by 41-51% of
respondents: an online discussion, project-based learning, case studies, use of online simulations or games and
digital portfolio management. The fourth group included advanced assignments: authentic problem solving, social
networking, participation in remote synchronous sessions, using mobile phones, creating wiki entries and managing
blog or personal websites (incorporated by 20-31% respondents). Among assignments devoted to the development
of the 21st century skills, the most frequent were web-based inquiry activities and collaborative tasks – about two
thirds of the sample required them from students. The less popular were creativity assignments related to writing in
wiki-spaces and blogs: just a fifth of the faculty members integrated them in their courses. Project and Problem
Based Learning were implemented by 30-40% of the sample. Advanced online environments (except virtual worlds)
were used by about a quarter of the sample. The mean of the indicators of all 18 assignments was used as a
generalized variable named "ICT-based assignments" for exploring interrelations with other variables.

Faculty involvement in pre-service teacher training to teach with ICT

In addition, five statements were aimed at collecting data about the faculty's involvement in direct
training of pre-services teacher to teach using ICT. About half of the respondents noted that at least in one of their
courses, students planned ICT-based lessons and practiced teaching them at school. Of these faculty members, 60%
were pedagogical supervisors, 8% of them were instructors of a course on educational technologies and 32% taught
other courses. About a third of the pedagogical supervisors did not relate to this topic in their work with pre-service
teachers. The training of students to teach online distance lessons was reported by 14% of the respondents and the
use of learning management systems or portals for school teaching experience was reported by 26% of the sample.
The mean of the indicators related to these five statements served as a generalized variable named "Training to teach
with ICT."

Technological, Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK)

For examining perceptions about their use of TPACK, the faculty respondents were requested to rate
their agreement with five statements on a five-point Likert scale. About 75% of faculty members reported as having

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the ability to select technology appropriately in accordance with their teaching approach and their students' learning
styles as well as the ability to effectively combine content, pedagogy and technology. 15% of them remained neutral
and 10% did not agree with these claims. The mean of the indicators on these five statements was calculated as a
generalized variable named "Self-reported TPACK." Regarding the stage of the respondents, according to the
CBAM model, the sample was distributed as follows: 3% of respondents were not interested in incorporating ICT in
teaching; 5% did not incorporate but were interested in learning about it; 16% took first steps in trying to incorporate
ICT; 40% regularly incorporate ICT but in traditional ways, 25% developed new teaching methods as a result of
using ICT; and 11% shared their best practices with colleagues.

Faculty attitudes towards the contribution of ICT in teaching and learning

Faculty attitudes towards the contribution of ICT in teaching and learning were examined using six
statements on a five-point Likert scale. About 70% of respondents expressed positive attitudes towards the
contribution of ICT in their teaching and student learning, and agreed that the use of ICT improves and enhances
cooperation among students. About 20% expressed a neutral attitude regarding these claims and only 10% did not
agree with them. Inverse distribution was found in claims that express a negative attitude: 70% disagreed with
claims "ICT is not suitable for areas of my teaching," "ICT use does not match my perception of the teacher's role"
and "ICT can lead to alienation or disconnection between the teacher and the students." About 20% of the teachers
expressed a neutral position and 10% actually agreed with these claims. The mean of responses on these six
statements was used as a generalized variable related to attitudes.

Use of ICT for personal and professional needs

Faculty respondents were asked to rate the degree to which they use 11 different ICT tools on a five-
point Likert scale ranging between "not in use" and "used to a high degree." Highly used tools were: word
processing, PowerPoint presentations, synchronous communication (e.g. Skype) and educational videos on
YouTube. Moderately used were: electronic spreadsheets, simulations and games and online environments for
collaborative work on shared documents. The use of social networks, smartphone and tablet applications, wikis and
blogs was rare. The mean of responses regarding these 11 tools served as a generalized variable named "ICT skills."
In addition, faculty members were asked to note if they conducted research in the field of ICT, of which 22% did.

Infrastructure and support existing in the colleges

Effective ICT integration in teaching by faculty members depends on the existing infrastructure and
the availability of technical, pedagogical and administrative support at the college. Respondents were asked to rate
the fulfillment of these conditions in a four-point Likert scale (not available, available in low, moderate and high
degrees). Most conditions were evaluated by them as moderate: availability of computers to faculty and students at
colleges, pedagogical support, and encouragement by the Heads of Departments and collaboration with colleagues
regarding teaching with ICT. Technical support and workshops were evaluated on average between "moderate" to
"high." In contrast, administrative support (academic promotion, promotion positions and incentives) was assessed
between "not available" and "available" at a low degree. In order to examine the relation between existing conditions
and characteristics of ICT uses by faculty, Pearson correlations were calculated. We found significant positive but
weak correlations among all these variables (r < 0.25).

Discussion

This article presents the state of ICT integration by faculty members in eight Israeli colleges of
education in the 2011-2012 academic year as part of the implementation of a national initiative aimed at
transforming teacher education to meet the demands of the 21st century. These findings are part of a broad
longitudinal study dealing with the evaluation of different aspects of ICT implementation, such as models developed
in the colleges, impact on pre-service teachers' knowledge and the policy of the Ministry of Education. The
monitoring of the process began before the national initiative was launched with a study conducted during 2007-
2011 (Goldstein et al., 2012). The findings presented here relate to the ways and extent of ICT integration in
teaching and professional development by faculty members and their relationship with pre-requisite conditions
existing in the colleges and pre-service teacher training to teach with ICT.
According to the findings, faculty members incorporated a variety of ICT-based learning assignments
which related to presentation and learning management, visualization and simulation, experience in advanced online
environments and the development of 21st century skills. The most frequently incorporated were assignments

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dealing with presentation, learning management and visualization. Among the 21st century skills, inquiry-based
learning and collaboration were the most represented in teaching practices of faculty members (two thirds
implemented them) while writing tasks were the least popular (implemented by a fifth of the faculty). More than half
of the sample was engaged in training students for teaching with ICT, including many pedagogical supervisors,
instructors of courses dealing with ICT in education but also instructors of other courses. However, still a third of the
pedagogical supervisors did not engage in training students for teaching with ICT. Most faculty members considered
themselves as having good Technological, Pedagogical and Content Knowledge and they had positive attitudes
towards ICT integration in teaching. In light of these findings, we can conclude that the models of ICT integration
in teaching by faculty members at colleges of education mostly represented the level of Technology Literacy (ICT
use for demonstration and communication) according to the UNESCO framework (Hine, 2011) and less the level of
Knowledge Deepening (authentic problems solving, research and case studies).
The level of Knowledge Creation was represented to a very small extent. These findings are similar to the
situation described in 2008-2009 where college graduates were exposed mostly to traditional ways of ICT
integration, such as using email, Internet search and submission of assignments by digital means (Goldstein,
Waldman, Tesler, Shonfeld, Forkosh-Baruch, Zelkovich et al., 2011). The main conclusion of the study is the need to
continue increasing the scope of ICT integration by teaching staff and, more important, put more emphasis on
developing teaching models on the levels of Knowledge Deepening and Knowledge Creation. It seems that there are
obstacles in the way of getting all the faculty members to develop ICT skills and integrate them in teaching and
learning, and there will probably be "laggards" that will never adapt them (Rogers, 2003). Some of the factors that
might improve the results and that have already increased ICT orientation and practice training relate to resources,
infrastructure, policy and evaluation (Surry, Ensminger & Jones, 2002). Those factors are evaluated in the
framework of the research network.

Acknowledgements: This study was supported by the Department of Teacher Professional Development in the
Israel Ministry of Education and the Research Authority at the MOFET Institute, Tel-Aviv. We are grateful to the
research team for their cooperation in the process of data collection and discussion of findings.

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